Shannon S. Evans » Photography

Finding Inspiration. Doing What I Love

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:00:00 +0000

I started a new blog. I feel like I’m always starting something new, but this time I think I finally have it. It’s a photography blog on people that inspire me. For now, I’m using my former clients that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with and eventually I’ll start adding other people.

Sharing the first piece was incredibly scary. It felt like the first time I was showing someone one of my photographs. Why scary? This idea has been brewing in my head for over a year now. I couldn’t really articulate what it was that I wanted to do at the time, so I kept moving forward with other things…tinkering with other projects.

Pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place when I did a photo shoot with Tanekeya Word. When she contacted me about the shoot and told me what she was trying to achieve, I was ecstatic. Her vision completely fell in line with the way that I like to shoot. We talked for about an hour and I was just incredibly inspired by her art and who she was as a person. That feeling continued into the shoot and then as I was editing the photos. I fell in love with the final images. I knew that I was able to capture who she was and at the same time these images represented exactly who I was. It was perfect.

I realized that getting to work with people that truly inspire me helps produce my best work. As inspiring as people find me, I know that I’m this way because of the incredible people that I’m inspired by. It’s a feeling that I want to spread.

I had actually been thinking of doing something with inspiration for a long time. (That sentence reads funny.) I just didn’t know what or how. I don’t even remember how I finally pieced together the concept that I’m running with now. But I do know that when I finally did the layout of the photos of Tanekeya with her interview, everything in the world felt right. My spirit felt at ease. I knew I was moving in the right direction.

While it all feels incredibly scary, it feels great to finally see what’s been in my head for all these months.

Oh…here is the link…to…the sevan blog.

Maybe I’ll Quit Photography

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:00:37 +0000

I’ve been having a whirlwind of thoughts lately. It vaguely reminded me of what I went through when I turned 25. Except this time, I’m used to all the confusion that I bring onto myself by over-thinking, over-analyzing and over-asking (yeah, I don’t know what this word means either).

I’m still pretty content with my life, but sometimes I feel I don’t see an end goal anymore. When I first started this journey, I wanted Sevan to be this huge global empire. Part of me still wants that, but some days, I just really want to ditch it all, move to Brazil and start shooting some real artsy stuff. I battle living in two completely different worlds and I really don’t know how much longer I can do it. I’m an entrepreneur, but I suffer from wanderlust. I’m a photographer that gets too caught up listening to people’s stories to bother taking photos of them.

It’s weird, because I still love shooting the commercial things like weddings and portraits, but I think I’d just like to do it in a different way. I just can’t quite figure out what this different way is. Actually, I do know…I would love to be able to shoot things for free and do it because I really enjoyed that. I wonder if that’s at all possible. Hmmm…shooting everything for free. I like it. But how would I seriously be able to support myself? (I really dislike money.)

You know, I’m not going to worry about that for now. I’m going to go with this. It’s really weird, but I didn’t know where I was going with this post when I started writing tonight, but it’s all starting to make sense. Kinda. Tia will want to strangle me, but I’m pretty sure she’s used to my whims by now. That’s part of the problem, I’m whimsical, some might even call me fickle. I have a million things I want to do, but only for a very limited amount of time.

Anyway, I’ll sleep on this…for a few days.

Anyone have any thoughts on who I could/should shoot for free? Or is this all sounding a bit crazy?

Stop Taking Sucky Pictures And Take Better Photographs

Mon, 24 May 2010 13:48:19 +0000

I’m a photographer, clearly. So, it should come as no surprise that people ask me how they can take better photos. I recently answered this question and thought it was worth sharing. Here are some handy tricks you can use to make any photo look better.

1. Get close and then get closer. One of the first photos I took for my B/W film glass was a Heineken bottle under a tree in a neighborhood park. After I processed the film, what I ended up with were photos of a tree and if you squinted hard enough, you might have caught a glimpse of a Heineken bottle. I just wasn’t close enough. Yeah, the tree turned out nice, but it was not what I was shooting. Figure out what it is that you thought was interesting and make sure that’s what you’re shooting. Photographers (yup, that’s me) know that you don’t have to show the entire thing to tell a story. And most often, it tells a better story.

2. Don’t center the subject. When taking a photo of another person, most people stand back, figure out where the middle is and deliberately make sure that the person is smack in the middle of the frame. Don’t ever do this. I guarantee your photo will suck. No, I’m not being harsh. It’s just the easiest way to have a sucky photograph. There are very few times that it works and until you know when those times are, just avoid it. Put the person off to the right or to the left…and then get closer. (And don’t listen to them when they say they want to show their shoes in the shot. Nobody can see the shoes if you’re too far away. Want a pic of the shoes? Take a pic of the shoes.)

3. Change your perspective. I don’t mean to do that weird tilt that seems to be in nowadays. ( I hate the tilt. Again, it can work, but it rarely works. If you always take photos this way, I start to think one of your legs is shorter than the other and that’s how things get lopsided. Did I mention that I hate the tilt?) Instead, bend a little (or a lot), stand on a chair (if you really want to be fancy) or try leaning back (as long as you are somewhat flexible). Just find a way to change the angle. And remember don’t try the tilt business.

Sunset

Fri, 21 May 2010 13:00:20 +0000

I’ve been missing Brazil, especially the sunsets over the beach. This photo always puts a smile on my face. (My friends would kill me if the knew I was uploading photos here when I haven’t added them to Facebook yet.)

Salvador da Bahia, Brazil in Photos

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:25:37 +0000

I’ve been working on a city guide to Bahia for a few days now and then realized that I haven’t looked at my photos since I’ve been back. So while I finish writing up all that stuff, here’s a small photo essay on Bahia.

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Photos! Well, Kinda

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:58:35 +0000

I have been taking photos while I’ve been here. In addition to working on my reggae project, I’ve been trying to capture a bit of the city. The other day, L’rai and I walked around at 5;30 am and I photographed her for a bit. Since I already posted this on the photography blog, have a look at it there, won’t you?

I decided this morning, or maybe it was last night, that apart from the reggae thing, I’m only going to do silhouettes in Salvador. The series will be called…Silhouettes in Salvador…duh!

Salvador has the most beautiful sunsets and sunrise isn’t half bad either. It seems that’s the only way things should be captured.

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